Generally, in the home furnishing field, the pieces of furniture are made of parallelepiped bodies, formed as it is known, by two parallel vertical sides, a top, a bottom and in case a back wall, which define an internal compartment wherein it is possible to place objects, foods, clothes, etc.
The front opening whereby the internal compartment is accessed is associable to one or more wings which can pass from a closing position in which the access to the compartment is prevented to an opening position, in which it is possible to access the content of the internal compartment, and vice versa.
Generally, the wings can be “side-hung”, that is hinged on the piece of furniture so as the passage from one position to the other occurs by rotating around a horizontal or vertical axis, therefore requiring considerable space to open, or sliding so as the passage from one position to the other occurs through side or vertical sliding, therefore making part of the internal compartment barely accessible, or inaccessible.
The German Utility Model No. 20121033 U1 shows a piece of furniture provided with a double wing opening/closing mechanism: in particular, the first wing and the second wing are arranged so as, in the closing position of the internal compartment of the piece of furniture, they are superimposed and lying on the same vertical plane, while in the opening position of the internal compartment of the piece of furniture the wings are arranged facing two parallel horizontal planes, completely overhanging in correspondence of the top of the piece of furniture.
The passage between the closing position and the opening position, and vice versa, occurs by means of synchronized and simultaneous rotary-translating motion of both wings, that is a rotation around horizontal axes in the same direction and at the same time vertical translation in the same direction, upward in the opening position and downward in the closing position, achieved thanks to articulated and slidable arms through a rack within two side guides provided in the front part of the sides of the piece of furniture.
However, this mechanism has some inconveniences. In fact, in order to achieve the passage from the closing position to the opening position of the compartment and therefore access its content, it is necessary for the user to impart the necessary force to operate the motion of both wings to the lower wing whereon a suitable handle is provided: therefore, besides the weight of the wings themselves, the user is moreover in the condition to have to win the resistance from the articulated arms and sliding friction of the rack. This can be rather burdensome when opening, especially if the piece of furniture has considerable dimensions, such as in the case of a wardrobe.
On the contrary, in the passage between the opening position and the closing position it is necessary to follow through the motion of the wings in order to prevent sudden and dangerous closing because of the weight of the same wings. Moreover, this opening/closing mechanism does not make it possible to block the motion of the two wings in an intermediate position.
Finally, the vertical sliding by means of a rack is rather noisy and it requires maintenance and lubrication, as well as the articulated arms, in order to ensure a sufficient motion smoothness.
In order to further reduce the necessary space for the opening/closing operations of the piece of furniture other solutions have been suggested, for example, pieces of furniture with only one wing wherein the opening occurs with a rotary motion of the wing which ends when it is a substantially horizontal position above the top of the piece of furniture. If required, there can be provided mechanism adapted to assist the motion, such as spring or hydraulic or pneumatic pistons. One example of such solution is described in the U.S. Application Publication No. 2002/0113532 A1.
Even if this solution is well apt for wall units which extend in length and much less in height, it cannot be used in any way for wardrobes, which generally extend for the whole height of the room leaving little hollow space between the top of the piece of furniture and the ceiling.
GB 1257999 A1 shows an assembly for closing pieces of furniture comprising two rectangular wings hinged one with the other along two sides of the same length and wherein the lower wing is provided with guide pins in correspondence with the side opposed to the hinged ones and sliding within side grooves. In order to open the piece of furniture, the guide pins of the lower wing are caused to slide vertically within the side grooves until the two wings are arranged facing each other and lying on two horizontal planes; then, the opening position is reached making the two wings slide horizontally inside the piece of furniture, just below its top.
This opening mechanism is rather inconvenient as in the passage between the closing position and the opening position, the user is in the trajectory of the wings; moreover, even if it makes it possible to house the wings inside the piece of furniture, they have to be first “packed” and then be slidably inserted and therefore, actually, the space required for the opening/closing operations is substantially equal to the width of one wing. Further, it is not provided any aid for the opening of the wings whose whole weight has therefore to be lifted by the user.